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Clegg allies plot to remove him

NICK CLEGG is facing a fresh plot to oust him as the Liberal Democrat party leader involving MPs who have previously been loyal to him.

The fear of being humiliated in this week’s European and local elections is now so great that even those who have supported Clegg in public are secretly backing the idea of replacing him with Vince Cable or Danny Alexander.

The party is braced for a devastating week, with party strategists privately saying that to retain four of their 12 MEPs would be a good result.

Groups of Lib Dem MPs usually loyal to Clegg are now openly discussing whether removing him in favour of either Alexander, the chief secretary to the Treasury, or Cable, the business secretary, would boost the party’s dismal poll ratings.

“There is more open talk than ever before,” said a senior party source. “They are all gaming out [scenarios] and not just